Impairment harmonised standard

This harmonised standard is under development.

Following the Inclusive Data Taskforce recommendations, we plan to review and update the current harmonised standard. This is in line with the GSS Harmonisation Workplan.

You can find more information about this in the ‘Further information’ section of this page. If you would like to be involved with this work, please contact us at Harmonisation@statistics.gov.uk.

Policy details

What is harmonisation?

Harmonisation is the process of making statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. Harmonised standards set out how to collect and report statistics to ensure comparability across different data collections in the Government Statistical Service (GSS). Harmonisation produces more useful statistics that give users a greater level of understanding.

What do we mean by impairment?

This harmonised standard is about impairment, not medical condition.

This means it looks at the functions that a person either cannot perform or has difficulty performing because of their health condition.

For example, glaucoma is a medical condition but being unable to see or being partially sighted is an impairment.

Using this harmonised standard means outcomes for disabled people can be looked at by impairment type.

Questions and response options (inputs)

The harmonised question(s) on this topic are designed to collect basic information, for use in the majority of surveys. They are not designed to replace questions used in specialist surveys where more detailed analysis is required.

There are two versions of the harmonised question on this topic:

1. Standard version: this should be used when a respondent has said yes, they have an existing medical condition, using the long-lasting health conditions and illness question.
2. Alternative version: this can be asked to all people, where there is no routing question.

Optional introduction to the question

This optional introduction can be used for clarification. It can be read out or put in explanatory text:

The purpose of this question is to establish the type of impairment(s) you experience currently as a result of your health condition or illness.

In answering this question, you should consider whether you are affected in any of these areas while receiving any treatment or medication or using devices to help you such as a hearing aid for example.

Standard version

Do any of these conditions or illnesses affect you in any of the following areas?

Show card of possible responses and code all the answers that apply:

Code	Impairment
1	Vision (for example blindness or partial sight)
2	Hearing (for example deafness or partial hearing)
3	Mobility (for example walking short distances or climbing stairs)
4	Dexterity (for example lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard)
5	Learning or understanding or concentrating
6	Memory
7	Mental health
8	Stamina or breathing or fatigue
9	Socially or behaviourally (for example associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which includes Asperger’s, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD))
10	Other (please specify)
Spontaneous only:
11	None of the above
12	Refusal

Note: spontaneous responses should not appear on the show card, but refusals or a response that none of the categories apply should be coded.

Alternative version

Do you have any health conditions or illnesses which affect you in any of the following areas?

Show card of possible responses and code all the answers that apply:

Code	Impairment
1	Vision (for example blindness or partial sight)
2	Hearing (for example deafness or partial hearing)
3	Mobility (for example walking short distances or climbing stairs)
4	Dexterity (for example lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard)
5	Learning or understanding or concentrating
6	Memory
7	Mental health
8	Stamina or breathing or fatigue
9	Socially or behaviourally (for example associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which includes Asperger’s, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD))
10	Other (please specify)
11	None of the above
Spontaneous only:
12	Refusal

Note: spontaneous responses should not appear on the show card, but refusals or a response that none of the categories apply should be coded.

Using this standard

Guidance for data collection

This question can be asked by proxy. For respondents aged 16 or over it can be answered directly or by proxy. For those under 16 it is only to be answered by proxy.

Guidance can be given on the category response or responses where clarification is requested.

Respondents can select as many responses that apply to them.

Interviewers should steer respondents to using the pre-defined categories wherever possible. They should avoid collecting precise conditions, for example: “Obstructive pulmonary disease” would code to the category “Stamina or breathing or fatigue”.

Types of data collection this standard is suitable for

This question designed is designed for Computer Assisted Personal interviewing (CAPI) and Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).

This question has not been tested for paper-based or online self-completion.

Using this question in the Welsh language

This harmonised standard was designed in the English language. At present we do not provide a Welsh language translation, as user demand for this standard is UK wide and Welsh language testing has not been completed to ensure a translation is comparable and appropriate. Harmonised standards based on Census research have been tested in the Welsh language, which is why we are able to provide Welsh versions of them. If you are interested in using a Welsh language version of a harmonised standard that has not been translated, please contact us: Harmonisation@statistics.gov.uk.

Comparability

Outputs that come from using this harmonised standard are comparable with other surveys that also use this standard. We would not recommend comparing estimates of impairment from this output with those that do not use this harmonised standard.

Examples of when this standard has been used

Surveys that used this standard

• Family Resources Survey
• Crime Survey for England and Wales
• English Housing Survey
• Health Survey for England

Use in the census

Impairment is not collected in the England, Wales or Northern Ireland Census.

Scotland collects impairment information on their census, but they do not use this harmonised standard. To see the question Scotland use, see page 6, question 18 of the Scotland 2019 Test Census Questionnaire.

Development of this standard

This is one of the harmonised standards on disability.

These standards are designed to be consistent with the World Health Organisation’s definition of disability and the disablement process. This is called the International Classification of Functioning (ICF).

They are also consistent with the definitions and guidelines in UK and EU legislation. This includes the 2010 Equality Act in Great Britain, the Disability Discrimination Act in Northern Ireland and the EU-SILC regulation.

The impairment question was developed alongside those on long-lasting health condition or illness and activity restriction.

Health Statistics Quarterly documents the development process:

• Health Statistics Quarterly – No. 42, Summer 2009: An update to measuring chronic illness, impairment and disability in national data sources
• Health Statistics Quarterly – No. 51, Autumn 2011: Update on the harmonisation of disability data collection in UK surveys (Part 1 and Part 2)

Further information

Alternative questions on impairment

The Washington Group (WG) set are alternative set of questions that can be used to measure impairment. The WG was set up by the UN Statistical Commission. It developed measures that addressed the lack of internationally comparable measures of disability. The short set of question asks if a person is able to do certain things, like hear, even if using a hearing aid. It then uses the responses to determine if a person would be classified as disabled.

The output from these questions is not comparable to this harmonised standard. The UK does not use the WG set of questions as they are not consistent with the 2010 Equality Act.

However, the UK does endorse their use as a tool in countries that do no already have valid measures of disability in place.

Inclusive Data Taskforce and GSS Harmonisation Workplan

In October 2020, the National Statistician established the Inclusive Data Taskforce. It was designed to improve the UK’s inclusive data holdings in a broad range of areas. This includes the nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act.

In September 2021 the Taskforce recommendations were published. Some of these recommendations specifically refer to harmonisation.

In response to the recommendations, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) oversaw the publication of an Implementation Plan in January 2022. This gives information about the current and planned initiatives across the UK statistical system. It refers to a GSS Harmonisation workplan, which was published in February 2022. This workplan includes reviewing, refining, and updating harmonised standards.

The workplan sets out activities for this standard in relation to disability. This includes:

• reviewing the topic area
• working with stakeholders and user groups to make sure disability standards meet user needs
• testing possible improvements and changes to the question design for the disability standards

Timescales for this work will be guided by the feedback the team gets throughout the project. We are now working to:

• publish the first findings from our research and engagement work
• design draft questions for updating the disability standards
• publish updated online self-completion questions, followed by telephone mode and face-to-face mode questions – this will depend on our research and engagement findings

You can find updates on timelines and project activities in the GSS Harmonisation Workplan.

If you would like to be involved with this work, please contact us at Harmonisation@statistics.gov.uk.

Contact us

We are always interested in hearing from users so we can develop our work. If you use or produce statistics based on this topic, contact us at Harmonisation@statistics.gov.uk.

Updates